BY DOUG GRAVES

Ohio Correspondent

DELPHOS, Ohio — All great things came from small beginnings. Just ask Donald (Doc) and Dorothy Miller of D&D Ingredients Distributors, Inc.

In 1976, the couple decided to take a leap of faith and try their hand at a new career path. At the time, Doc had been working at a local car dealership, but with seven kids they needed to increase their income. When presented with the opportunity to take over an oat cleaning business, the two spent $5,000 on a business they knew very little about.

Fast-forward to the present, D&D’s manufacturing campus now covers more than 45 acres and includes 475,000 square feet of warehouse space housing more than 650 different ingredients. D&D is located on the Chicago, Ft. Wayne and Eastern Railroad and, together with their own trucking service, shops to 26 states and 27 counties globally.

Just last month the company announced it now includes a full-scale operation of its new premix plant, one which features automated micro ingredient proportioning, blending and mixing technology.

Added to the company’s production arsenal is a precision-automated micro-proportioning system and a four-ton, twin-shaft, horizontal ribbon-paddle mixer. The new system combines precise amounts of vitamins, minerals and other micro ingredients in homogenous premixes that blend uniformly in manufactured feed or pet food products. The operation is specifically aimed towards dairy animals, beef cattle, pigs, poultry, horses, dogs and cats.

“Demand is growing for the reliable supply of precision formulated and manufactured custom premixes,” said Mike Wright, Director of Operations and Business Development at D&D. “We’re helping our partners in the feed and pet food industries to streamline their supply chains.”

D&D works with feed manufacturers servicing the livestock, poultry, specialty sectors, and many of the most respected brands in the pet food industry. Wright says D&D maintains a comprehensive range of ingredients with more than 650 different ingredients in the company’s inventory.

That portfolio of ingredients includes vitamins, trace minerals, macro minerals, amino acids, microbial and yeast-based products, enzymes, medications, dry fats, flow agents, blocks, VTM packs (which includes: cattle mineral and dairy premix), protein products, buffer products and more such as alfalfa meal, beet pulp shreds, linseed pellets, soybean hulls and others.

The company is certified and authorized to produce and handle feed and pet food products in accordance with federal guidelines for safe food, and is a member of HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point).

“We specialize in the micro ingredients that’s needed,” added Ted Williams, D&D’s Chief Operating Officer. “By taking advantage of our ingredient knowledge and formulation expertise, our customers can better optimize their manufacturing operations.”

D&D employs 48 at its facility, which is located 20 miles northwest of Lima, Ohio.

“Our vision is to be the partner of choice for outsource manufacturing services for the feed and pet food industries,” Wright said. “We intend to hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards of product quality and service.”

For information about D&D Ingredient Distributors Inc., call 419-692-3205.